The health ministry screened over 70 per cent of students across the country in ear and hearing impairment. This was shared at the Hear, Listen and Speak, or HLS programme closing in the capital today. The programme was for the improvement in early detections and interventions of ear and hearing disorder.
More than 1,15,000 students were screened across the country, from which over 4,450 students were treated of any complications detected.
The ministry said 600 hearing aids were provided to students in need.
Nearly 500 School Health Coordinators, which included 85 per cent of the coordinators in the country, were trained by the health ministry to conduct the screening in schools.
Sabitra Mothey, school health coordinator of Chang Rigphel Primary School, Thimphu said, “First, I started screening and I completed screening in my school. With that, the Ministry of Health picked me as a trainer and I went to the four districts in the east and trained my colleagues. I hope I touch the life of my kids and the colleagues who would be doing the same like me.”
Sonam Choden, an assistant programme officer of Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Programme under MoH said, “So some parents, they did not want to give consent to screen their children. We did not force those children to be screened. We got their consent and we only screened the children that we received the consent for. Our school health coordinators, they were trained and the training was rigorous. We made them sit through multiple exams.”
The ministry also screened over 6860 newborns in hearing. The initiatives were conducted by audiologist in the two regional referral hospitals as well as the national referral hospital.
The ministry also integrated some of the initiatives in ongoing programmes to make it sustainable.
Sonam Choden said,“So now, the universal hearing screening is part of the newborn screening at the Reproductive Health Programme. And the school hearing screening is a part of the entire school screening programme at the School Health Programme, which is also being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development. And we also have involved Dratshang for the expansion in the monastic sites. ”
The programme started as a three-year programme in 2021 but it got extended till last year due to the pandemic.
It was worth Nu 45.5 M.
Besides screening, it introduced the first earmold lab, improved audiology services in regional hospital and conducted 15 cochlear implant surgeries in Bhutan.
At the event today, Medtronic LABS donated 700 additional hearing aids to the health ministry.
Medtronic LABS is an independent, non-profit health systems innovator funded by Medtronic. This hearing aid will be for the elderly population, with an aim to cover all ages.
Singye Dema
